Church festival shut down early over safety concerns, police say
It happened right on the border of Eastchester and Tuckahoe. The Tuckahoe police chief says extensive pre-event planning took place to help make the fair safe.
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The Immaculate Conception and Assumption festival has been a tradition for decades.
However, on Friday night, the event was shut down earlier over safety concerns.
"I don't define it as a teen takeover, like we've seen in New Jersey, Long Island and NYC. We had a large amount of people leaving the area at one time. We were outnumbered officer-wise," Tuckahoe Chief of Police Larry Rotta.
It happened right on the border of Eastchester and Tuckahoe. Rotta says extensive pre-event planning took place to help make the fair safe.
Around 8:15 pm on Friday, police say the fairgrounds became overcrowded. Police say groups began to engage in extreme behaviors such as fighting and illegally entering the premises. A decision was made to close the fair early on Friday.
"At the end of the day, we protected the village. We proacted the corridor, we protected the surrounding communities and assisted them with the crowd control and disbursement of the crowd," said Rotta.
Mutual Aid was called in to assist. Police say there was no damage to the property or civilians. Three Eastchester Police officers sustained minor injuries.
Witnesses say that what took place at the fair was scary.
"There were just a group of kids that were loud and rowdy and throwing things. The police, you know, had to shut it down just to make sure things were safe," said Tuckahoe resident Sal Provenzano.
Village Mayor Cara Kronen said she condemned the behaviour
"Let me be clear...I condemn the actions that put our people at risk," the mayor said.
Fair hours were reduced on both Saturday and Sunday as a result. Both days occurred without incident.
